Harry Graham did many brilliant things as a batsman but scarcely gave himself a fair chance. Had he ordered his life more carefully he might have had a much longer and more successful career in first-class cricket. His natural powers were great. He did not play with quite a straight bat but he was a splendid hitter with any amount of dash and vigour. When he came to England for the first time in 1893 he was at his best, playing the innings of his life against England at Lord's. No one who saw the match will forget the way in which he and Gregory knocked off the England bowling after Australia had lost five wickets for 75. Graham was very successful all through the tour and headed the averages in all matches, just beating Lyons. However, he was not the same man in 1896 and had to be left out of many matches. He recovered his batting form at home and for a couple of seasons was almost as good as ever, playing two innings of over a hundred for Victoria against South Australia. Taking his career as a whole he was a player of immense possibilities only half fulfilled.

Graham's performances in first-class cricket:--

Inns.

Times not out.

Most in an inns.

Total runs.

Average.

In Australia, 1892-3

7

2

86*

262

52.40

In England, 1893

53

3

219

1,435

28.70

In America, 1893

4

0

25

30

7.50

In Australia, 1893-4 to 1895-6

25

0

105

691

27.64

In England, 1896

32

2

96

547

18.23

In America, 1896

3

0

5

5

1.66

In Australia, 1896-7 to 1899-1900

38

1

124

1,081

29.21

In New Zealand, 1899-1900

6

0

169

373

62.16

In Australia, 1900-1 to 1902-3

23

1

120

842

38.27

In New Zealand, 1903-4 to 1906-7

29

0

86

688

23.72

Total

220

9

219

5,954

28.21

* Signifies not out.

Graham's hundreds in important cricket:--

Runs.

Year

219

Eighth Australian Team v. Derbyshire, at Derby

1893

169

Melbourne C.C. Team v. Canterbury, at Christchurch

1899-1900

124

Victoria v. New South Wales, at Sydney

1898-9

120

Victoria v. South Australia, at Melbourne

1900-1

118

Victoria v. South Australia, at Adelaide

1899-1900

107

Australia v. England, at Lord's

1893

105

Australia v. England, at Sydney

1894-5

103

Victoria v. New South Wales, at Melbourne

1895-6

101

Victoria v. Queensland, at Brisbane

1902-3

IRWIN GRIMSHAW, of the Yorkshire eleven of the middle eighties, died at Farsley on January 19th, aged 53. He was born at the same place on May 4th, 1857, and always had his home there. Without ever quite reaching the standard expected of him, he was for a few years--1884 to 1886--one of the best batsmen on the Yorkshire side. His highest innings were:--

115

Yorkshire v. Cambridge University, at Cambridge

1884

129*

Yorkshire v. Cambridge University, at Sheffield

1885

114*

Yorkshire v. Nottinghamshire, at Trent Bridge

1885

122*

Yorkshire v. Derbyshire, at Leeds

1886

* Signifies not out.

Among his other good performances may be mentioned his 77 for Eleven of England against the Australians at Huddersfield in 1884. In all first-class matches during his career he scored 3,682 runs with an average of 18.50.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack